ISyE Distinguished Scholarship Lecture - Edward H. Kaplan

ISyE Hosts Yale University's Edward H. Kaplan for its Distinguished Scholarship Lecture on Monday, March 28, 2016. It will take place in the Molecular Science and Engineering Building Auditorium, Cherry Logan Emerson Lecture Theater from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. A reception will immediately follow the lecture.

Kaplan is William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Operations Research, Professor of Public Health, and Professor of Engineering at Yale University, as well as president of INFORMS.

He will be speaking on "Adventures in Policy Modeling!" Policy modeling refers to the application of operations research, statistics, and other quantitative methods to model policy problems. Recognizing that analyses of all sorts often exhibit diminishing returns in insight to effort, the hope is to capture key features of various policy issues with relatively simple “first-strike” models. Problem selection and formulation thus compete with the mathematics of solution methods in determining successful applications: Where do good problems come from? How can analysts tell if a particular issue is worth pursuing?

In addressing these questions, Dr. Kaplan will review some personal adventures in policy modeling selected from public housing, HIV/AIDS prevention, bioterror preparedness, suicide bombings and counterterrorism, in vitro fertilization, predicting presidential elections, and sports.